Curtain-fixture



v No. 623,!62. Patented Apr. l8," I899. n. E; JOHNSON.

CURTAIN FIXTURE,

(Application filed June 80, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Nrrnn STATES PATENT Orrrcs.

RALPH EUGENE JOHNSON, OF LAFAYETTE, INDIANA.

CURTAIN-FIXTU RE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,162, dated April18, 1899.

Application filed June 30,1898. Serial No. 684,825. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, it ntag concern.-

Be it known that I, RALPH EUGENE JOHN- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lafayette, in the county of Tippecanoe and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain-Fixtures; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Myinvention has relation to window shades or curtains and to mechanismfor conveniently manipulating and controlling the same, the object beingto provide two curtains adapted to shade the upper and lower parts ofthe window, respectively, and both adapted to be operated with oneroller.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a window,showing my improved curtain applied to use. Fig. 2 is a side elevationof Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one end of the roller,showingthe mechanism employed for manipulating the same. Fig. 4 shows anelevation of the same end of the roller. Fig. 5 illustrates the means Iemploy to obtain an equal pull upon the curtains when it is founddesirable to attach both to the controlling-cord. Fig. 6 is a frontelevation of one of the brackets, while Fig. 7 shows side elevations ofthe same bracket. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the other bracket. Fig.9 is a bottom view of the bracket illustrated in Figs. (Band 7. Fig. 10is a side elevation of one of the cord-pulleys and the means employedfor mounting the same. Fig. 11- is a transverse section of Fig. 10.

For convenience of reference the same numerals will be employed todesignate the same parts throughout the various figures of the drawings.

The curtains 1 and 2, designed to shade the upper and lower parts of thewindow, respectively, are laid side by side, and the two ends are thenattached to the roller 3 in the usual manner, said roller being mounted,as is usual, in the brackets 4 and 5, which are preferably located at orjust below the middle of the window-frame.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated the mechanism employed for controlling theroller, which is provided with the ordinary central bore 6, in

which is located the actuating-sprin g 7. The

bore 6 is enlarged at the outer end of the roller, so that it isfunnel-shaped. The object of this enlargement of the bore is to makeroom to accommodate the thimble S. The end of the roller is receivedinto the ferrule 9, which is provided with the inwardly-extendingannular flange 10, against which the end of the roller abuts. The outerend of the ferrule receives the disk 11, provided with the central bore12. The thimble S is provided with a flared month, which terminates inan annular flange, which is adapted to rotate freely between the disk 11and the flange 10 of the ferrule.

to the outer end of the spring 7 in any suitable manner, as by brazing,soldering,or other preferred Way. It will be observed from Fig. 4 thatthe disk 11 carries upon the outer face thereof the pivoted gravity-dog13, the inward movement of which is limited by the pin 14.

The supporting-stein 15 is pivotally attached at its inner end to thethimble 8, and, as will The thimble Sis connected appear from Figs. 3and 4, sufficient room is provided for said stem to move entirely out ofengagement with the gravity-pawl13 when need requires. From thisexplanation of my mechanism illustrated, in Figs. 3 and 4 it is apparentthat a downward pull upon the controlling-cord 16 will lift or slightlyelevate the roller 3, and inasmuch as the outer end of thesupporting-stem 15 is held securely in the slot provided therefor in thebracket 5 this elevation will lift the gravity-dog 13 out of engagementwith said supporting-stem, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, leaving theroller free to be manually rotated by a further downward pull upon thecord. When the cord is released, the weight of the roller and also thatof the blinds or curtains supported thereby will cause said roller todrop down again, so that the top of the hole 12 will rest at the top ofthe supporting-stem 15, which brings said stem into engagement with thegravity-dog and prevents a backward rotation of the roller, which wouldotherwise be effected by the weight of the curtains.

In order that the operation of my mechanism may be fully understood, Iwill explain how it may be used to meet the requirements of suchmechanism under varying conditions. Let us suppose in the first placethat it is desired to shade the whole window. Referring to Fig. 1, itwill be seen that a downward pull upon the operating-cord 16, as alreadyexplained, will permit the roller 3 to freelyrorate. This pull iscontinued until the upper blind is sufficiently elevated to shade theentire upper part of the window, and since both blinds are received sideby side upon the same roller it is clearly apparent that when the freeend of the upper blind is at the top of the window the lower blind willbe at its bottom. The upper blind is supported in this position by thecord 16, which is suitably held by the bracket 4, as will be explainedhereinafter. Again, let us suppose that it is desired to shade the lowerpart of the window while the upper part is left open. To do this, thelower blind is simply pulled down by the hand, which changes the upwardtension upon the roller to a downward tension imparted from said lowerblind, causing the stem 15 to come into engaging position with thegravitydog 13, which serves to prevent the blind from rolling backwardwhen brought to the desired position. The upper blind will now hang in aloop over the lower blind and may be raised or lowered, as desired,bymeans of the cord 16 and supported in that position by attaching saidcord to the bracket 4. When it is desired to roll-the lower blind up,the stem 15 may be released from the gravitydog by suddenly pulling thecurtain down a short distance until the roller has made a partialrevolution, which disengages the gravity-dog. The blind is thenpermitted to rise to any position desired at sufficient speed tocentrifugally hold the gravity-catch outward from contact with the stem.In other words, when it is desired to operate the lower blindindependently of the upper one the method of operating it in no waydiffers from that employed in manipulating the ordinary Hartshornroller. If it is desired to shade only the portion of the window belowthe curtain-roller and the looping of the upper blind is for any reasonobjectionable, the latter may be unhooked from the supporting-cord at 21and brought down over the lower blind and both blinds again operatedtogether as a single blind, as referred to above; or suppose, again,that it is desired to shade the upper part of the window while the lowerpart is left unshaded. This is .easily and readily accomplished byattaching the free end of the lower blind also to the controllingcordand then pulling down, as usual, upon said cord, which causes the freeends of both blinds to move side by side to the top of the window, inwhich position they are supported bythe cord in the manner alreadystated in the other instances cited. It is in this instance that Iemploy my equalizing device illustrated in Fig. 5, which consists of thepulley 17, the cord 18, cooperating therewith, and the knobs 01' balls19 and 20, attached to athe two ends thereof. The pulley 17 is atordinary screws.

tached to the end of the supporting-cord 16, and the cord 18 is passedover this pulley, and the two knobs are then secured on its ends. Thehook 2], attached to the upper blind at its center, is hooked around thecord 18 at its point of union with the knob 19. As it pulls downwardupon said cord 18 the knob 20 will pass upward until its furthermovement is prevented by the pulley 17, as is clearly illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2, in which case the equalizing mechanism forms theconnectinglink between the supporting-cord and the upper shade 1; butwhen it is desired to elevate both curtains, as in the last instancecited, the hook 22, attached to the lower curtain at its center, ishooked around the cord 18 at its point of union with the knob 20, asillustrated in Fig. 5, from which illustrationit is clearly apparentthat an upward pull upon the cord 16 will elevate both curtains,asalready stated.

The bracket 4 is provided in its bottom with the longitudinal groove 23,and located in this groove at suitable intervals apart are thetransverse ribs 24. The object of this groove is to receive the end ofthe supporting-cord,

which is placed in the groove just before the bracket is secured in itsoperative position by v The ribs bite the cord, as it were, so that whenthe bracket is secured in proper position the end of the cord is firmlyheld, as illustrated in Fig. l. The brackets 4 are further adapted tocarry the corrugated pulleys 25,which are suitablymounted. These pulleysare provided near their inner ends with the deep grooves or recesses 26,in which the cord can pass freely. They are further provided with thespiral grooves or corrugations 27, which serve to cause the windowcordto move toward the outer ends of said pulley, when an upward motion ofsaid cord is effected, at which point the cord is clamped between theroller and the bottom section 28 of the bracket, the diameters of saidpulleys increasing as their outer ends are approached. To render thisclamping process still more certain, the bracket is further providedwith the inclined flange 29,which cooperates with the corrugations 27 ingiving the cord a tend-- ency to pass from the groove 26 toward theouter end of the pulley, where it is clamped. This construction isespecially valuable when by accident the hold upon the cord has beensuddenly lost, as it operates to quickly grasp the cord and prevent thejerk which would be consequent upon the sudden falling of the upperblind, which would probably result in the breaking of the cord. It will,however, be observed, on the other hand, that when the cord is pulleddownward these spiral corrugations tend to draw it-inwardly into thegroove 26, where it can move freely, so that while the pulley 25 isadapted to check the upward movement of the cord when said cord is notmanually held within the groove 26 it ofiers no obstruction to adownward pull thereof.

The method of passing the cords over the pulleys in operative positionis so clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 that a description thereof is deemedunnecessary.

Having thus fully described the operation and construction ofmyinvention and shown means by which it may be applied to use, I yet donot wish to be limited to the exact showing made, but desire protectionin all that comes clearly within the spirit and scope of my invention.

lVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a curtain-roller having a spiral spring mountedtherein, of a thimble rotatably mounted in the end' of said roller andsuitably connected with said spring; a supporting-stem pivotally mountedin said thimble and means carried by said roller to engage said stemwhen the roller is moved in a vertical plane, as specified and for thepurpose set forth. 2. The combination with a pair of curtains and asuitable roller therefor, of the hereindescribed curtain attachmentconsisting of a flexible cord, a pulley over which said cord may pass, aball secured to each end of said flexible cord and a hook carried byeach curtain designed to cooperate with said cord and balls, as and forthe purpose set forth.

3. A curtain-roller having a pivoted stem extending beyond the endthereof,- a spiral spring mounted within the roller and suitable meansto connect said spring and stem whereby the roller may be freely rotatedand at the same time moved in a vertical plane, and a pawl carried bythe end of the roller designed to engage said stem and thereby hold theroller against further rot'ation until disengaged, as specified and forthe purpose set forth.

4.. A curtain-roller having a spiral spring mounted therein anoperating-cord designed to control said roller; a thimble or bell-shapedhousing 8 connected at its tapered end to said spring androtatablymounted in the end of the roller; a stem extending beyond the end of theroller and pivotally connected at its inner end to the interior of theinner end of said thimble, and a pivoted keeper carried by the rolleradapted to engage said stem when the cord controlling the curtain isreleased, as and for the purpose specified.

5. A curtain-roller having a spiral spring mounted therein; a thimble 8connected at its inner tapered end to said spring and rotatably mountedin the end of the roller; a stem extending beyond the end of the rollerand pivotally connected at its inner end to the interior of the innerend of said thimble; a plate attached to the end of the roller andhaving an aperture to receive the free'end of said stem whereby saidstem or the roller may move in a vertical plane when said slot is in avertical position, and suitable means carried by said plate to engagesaid stem and hold the roller against further rotation until the stem isreleased, as specified and for the purpose set forth.

6. A curtain-roller bracket having a standard and base and furtherprovided upon the lower face of said base with a longitudinallydisposedgroove having cross-ribs disposed at intervals, as specified and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

RALPH EUGENE JOHNSON.

lVitnesses:

ALEXANDER A. RICE, W. S. POTTER.

